Monday, July 13, 2015

This is Gary McFarland, in Albany and on Fandor

The
Israeli Broadway musical To Live Another
Summer, To Pass Another Winter had some surprising spring in its step, but
pioneering jazz-and-pop musician-composer Gary McFarland’s work-for-hire
supervision of the original cast album hardly seems like a fitting final
session. Alas, fate and a criminally irresponsible prankster would deem it so.
McFarland’s life and music are surveyed in Kristian St. Clair’s This is Gary McFarland (trailer here), which screens tomorrow in Albany in conjunction with a performance of the Gary McFarland
Legacy Ensemble—and also streams online for Fandor subscribers.

McFarland
died too soon and he started playing professionally unusually late in life.
Somehow, in between, he still had time to record absolutely classic sessions
with Bill Evans, Steve Kuhn, and Clark Terry. He broke into the business as a
vibraphonist, but soon became more in-demand as an arranger and composer. He is
now most in/famous for his trailblazing pre-“fusion” fusion of jazz and pop
music, which overshadowed his Third Stream-esque classical style jazz
arrangements.

Had
he lived longer, the rest of the world might have caught up with McFarland. Frankly,
it is rather baffling his funky environmental protest album America the Beautiful has yet to catch
on. Sadly, he did not survive to see jazz-pop fusion reach critical mass, due
to no fault of his own. Yes, St. Clair makes it clear McFarland struggled with
many of the demons that afflicted his fellow musicians, but he had nothing to
do with the fatal dose of methadone that killed him. Not afraid to name names, the
film calls out Mason Hoffenberg (co-writer of Candy with Terry Southern), a registered methadone user who was at
the 55 Bar on the fateful night McFarland and others were mysteriously dosed
with the potent drug. Gee, didn’t the counter-culture have the darnedest sense
of humor?

For
the most part though, St. Clair focuses on the music, incorporating extensive musical
samples into the film. Logically, he includes generous selections from the America concept album, but there are
also a number of less obvious choices, such as “High Camp,” a McFarland tune
recorded by Mingus drummer Dannie Richmond on his only LP as a leader (and a
personal favorite around here). For perspective and reminiscences, St. Clair sits
us down with a number of McFarland’s legendary friends and colleagues, such as
the aforementioned Terry and Kuhn, as well as Bob Brookmeyer, Grady Tate, Phil
Woods, Chet Amsterdam, and Airto [Moriera].

Visually, TIGM
is rather lively by documentary standards, vividly conveying a flavor of
McFarland’s career through periodic montages of record jackets and press
clippings. St. Clair has an ear for McFarland’s music, picking selections that
best reflect the bright tonal colors of his music. Admirably well done, This is Gary McFarland is highly recommended
in its own right for Fandor users. It will should also make for quite an event
as part of the Gary McFarland Legacy Ensemble concert-tribute, which should be
a terrific show, since it features the piano and arrangements of Bruce Barth. For
all our lobbyist readers, the program starts at 7:00 this Tuesday (7/14) at the
Madison Theater in Albany.

About Me

J.B. (Joe Bendel) works in the book publishing industry, and also teaches jazz survey courses at NYU's School of Continuing and Professional Studies. He has written jazz articles for publications which would be appalled by his political affiliation. He also coordinated instrument donations for displaced musicians on a volunteer basis for the Jazz Foundation of America during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Send e-mail to: jb.feedback "at" yahoo "dot" com.